


The True Face of Fear

by AzureVibes



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: BAMF Pitch Black (Guardians of Childhood), Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Fluff, Gen, Good Person Pitch Black (Guardians of Childhood), Manny is a good guy y’all, Nice Pitch Black (Guardians of Childhood), No romantic relationships yet, Not Canon Compliant, Protective Pitch Black (Guardians of Childhood), he likes messing with the guardians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22136869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzureVibes/pseuds/AzureVibes
Summary: What if, the only reason why Pitch attacked the Guardians was becuase Manny asked him to so that they would get off their lazy asses and start paying attention to the children? (And of course, so that Jack Frost would join them, and stop being so alone?)
Relationships: E. Aster Bunnymund & Pitch Black, Jack Frost & Pitch Black, Nicholas St. North & Pitch Black, Pitch Black & Guardians of Childhood, Pitch Black & Sanderson Mansnoozie, Pitch Black & Toothiana (Guardians of Childhood), Pitch Black & Tsar Lunar Lunanoff X | The Man in the Moon
Comments: 9
Kudos: 100





	1. Chapter 1

Silence, thick and heavy, laid in the Saunteff Clausen, allowing the sound of the harsh, howling winds that crash against and rattle the windows to be heard by all. Outside, in the cold, snow fell in a steady and continuing stream, the light of the timid sun reflecting off the snowflakes every so often.

Had it been any other normal occasion, Jack Frost would've currently been outside in that snow, flying along the wind and playing in the snow either with some animals or kids, not caring whether or not they believed in him. Alas, he knows that if he were to go to them right now, his mood would only serve to make him even more annoyed.

And so here he is, sitting on a comfy sofa in Santa's Meeting Room along with the other Guardians, all whom are still trying to process Manny's words from last night.

Fluttering about the room along with Baby Tooth, Toothiana wrings her hands and bites her lips, her confusion as clear as glass on her face. Across from Jack, North sits on a recliner chair in front of the fireplace, his bushy brows furrows as he trails a hand through his white beard. Bunny and Sandy were in front of the only window in the room, and from the sound of the Bunny's hushed whispers and Sandy's frantic dreamsand shapes, Jack can only guess that they are still in the middle of their argument.

Out of all of them, Bunny is the one who appears to have the most trouble with what Manny revealed to them, and he's very, ah, vocal in stating his displeasure.

"Come on, mate," He groans, raising his voice. "This is 'im we're talkin' about!"

Sandy shakes his head, and above him, the golden dreamsand takes the shape of the round moon. The moon disappears, and then the clear silhouette of Pitch Black appears beside an okay sign.

_Manny said that Pitch is good._

"Manny is playin' a prank on us!"

Jack, even though he still has trouble believing that Pitch, their supposed enemy, has only been keeping the balance instead of trying his luck on world domination, still disagrees with Bunny. He hardly doubts that a being such as Manny would actually take joy on playing pranks, of all things. Especially ones that include Pitch.

Jack stands up from the couch before Sandy can shape his thoughts, catching their attention. Biting his lips, he speaks: "Perhaps we should just go and ask Pitch?"

Bunny splutters and Sandy literally _beams_ up at Jack; North and Tooth only share a glance.

"I mean, if Manny is correct, then Pitch wouldn't attack us, right?" Jack grins, blinking innocently at the withering look Bunny sends his way. He twirls his staff and bounces on the balls of his feet, and in the back of his mind he takes notice of the calming wind outside.

"Is. . . . not bad idea, actually," North finally muses, and even Jack can see the shining glint in his eyes.

(He rememberes how two weeks after the disastrous Easter, North had admitted that perhaps, just perhaps, Pitch's attack wasn't entirely the darker spirit's fault. That perhaps, the Guardians' constant attempt at keeping him locked up may have been a mistake.)

"Are you sure, North? I mean I understand it's Manny, but. . . ." Tooth says while cradling Baby Tooth in her hands and Bunnymund nods with her, glad that someone is taking his side.

"How about you and Bunny stay at the Pole, and Jack, Sandy, and I check on Pitch?" North suggests, standing up. "If we do not come back after hours, come for us."

Bunny and Tooth share a wary look before Bunny sighs, his ears twitching in annoyance. He already knows that there's no use in fighting against North— very rarely does the old Bandit backs away from a decision, and this time is no different, especially since both Sandy and Jack also support him.

"Ugh," Aster rolls his eyes at the grinning Jack and shining Sandy, both happy for two very, _very_ different reasons. "Alright, but be careful, mate. It's still Pitch we're talking about."


	2. Chapter 2

A dark spirit slinks through the shadows of a small village in Iraq, passing by sleeping adults and children alike. When he passes by the animals, they jolt and either scramble away or growl in warning. The spirit pays them no attenting, and instead focuses on the small forest surrounding a side the village, where he can feel the familiar fear of being lost, of not being found, of predators, radiating off in waves.

Still in the shadows, he moves towards where the waves are coming from. Above him, the moon twinkles gently, bright as ever. And if someone were to look hard enough, then they'd see a smiling face upon the moon's surface.

Coming to stop in front of a tree, he sees who is emitting such a fear; a little girl sits with her back to a tree, tightly curled into a ball and rocking herself. A breeze blows by and it causes the girl to shiver, a whimper sounding from the back of her throat. The spirit can feel her fear rise, leaving a sour taste in the back of his throat.

The spirit ignored the taste and instead turns back to the girl and her fear. He slinks out of the shadows, knowing that the girl cannot see him, and reaches a hand out.

"Come to me," he gently urges the fear. A small, misshapen mass of dark gray dust slowly appears in front of the little girl, though she cannot see it. The mass comes to the spirit's hand, allowing said spirit to twist the dust between his fingers.

Too afraid of wolves, the little girl had decided that staying in the forest would be good instead of trying to find a way out. Unbeknownst to her, wolves aren't the only dangerous creatures here; scorpions, snakes, and poisonous bugs are around, and if she stays any longer, then she'd become one of their preys.

The spirit twists and turns the fear in his hands, taking complete control of it. He then allows the fear to return to the girl. Mentally, he whispers to the girl in her mother language, becoming the voice of her subconsciousness:

_'There are scorpions and snakes, and it's too dark to see them.'_

She slowly raises her head up, and it's then that the spirit can see her dirt-caked features. Her brown eyes are puffy, and there's dried snot on her nose. She looks to be about seven or eight.

The spirit continues, _'If you stay, one of them could come. Mama and Baba always warned you about them,'_

While the girl is still distracted, the spirit uses the shadows to make all of surrounding darker except for a part still lit my the moonlight, the one that leads back to the village. He nudges the girl a bit more and finally, she stands up.

She appears to be still hesitant, but she doesn't sit down again. As she moves, the twigs and dried leaves beneath her sandals snap and break. The girl flinches at the sound but still goes on, arms wrapped tightly around herself.

Pitch Black, the Nightmare King and the Boogeyman, stays back in the forest in the shadows, already knowing that his Nightmares would lead her back to the village safely.

Speaking of Nightmares; Onyx materializes beside him, neighing. She butts her neck against his hand, and Pitch pats her mane. He can feel the fear she's collected flow to him, and so he rewards her by scratching her neck.

"Good girl," he praises her, allowing her to nuzzle him a bit. He's about to mount her when a moonbeam shines in front of him.

Confused, he turns to look up at the moon. "What is it, old friend?" He asks, watching as the moonbeam slowly forms the shape of the Guardians.

He furrows his brows, and takes a guess at what Manny is trying to say, "They have found out?"

The moonbeam shines brighter, which means _yes_ so Pitch sighs. He knows that they were bound to find out sometime, but he didn't realize that it would be so soon after their last "battle".

"I take it they now want to talk?"

The moonbeam shines again.

Pitch sighs again and mounts Onyx, a smirk starting to grow on his face. "Oh, this will be quite a show," he says to himself, but Onyx still whinnies in agreement.

There's no need for it as Onyx already knows where he plans to go, but Pitch still says it: "To the Lair."

And then, they're off, neither of them noticing a certain winter spirit that was watching them from afar.

Jack, in all his 300 years of 're-living' as a spirit, has seen many strange things, from talking kangaroos and groundhogs to drunk love spirits with far too many arrows, but none of them could even come close to seeing his enemy, who is not actually an enemy, help a child return to her parents. A child that does not even believe in him, Jack also notes.

Raising his staff up, he shoots a blast of ice up towards the sky; alerting the other two Guardians of his location.

Earlier, when they had gone to Burgess, the entrance to Pitch's Lair was still closed. Instead of having to travel the entire Earth in search of him, Manny had graciously told North that Pitch was in Iraq. He hadn't elaborated any further, so they decided to split up.

If had any doubts about what Manny had said before, then they slowly disappeared as he watched Pitch take care of a kid so easily, it was almost like he had done it before. And if things were true, then he definitely did help kids before.

Smile stretching into a cheshire grin, Jack lays down on a tree branch, impatiently waiting for the other two to come so that they may go to the Lair and finally talk to Pitch.


End file.
